In a competitive marketplace, retailers must provide a seamless shopping experience online, whether mobile or at home, and in stores – or risk losing sales

By: Hazel Davis of Raconteur

It’s one of the most popular retail buzzwords, yet only 29 per cent of UK retailers consider themselves to be omni-channel, providing a seamless shopping experience across different channels. Research from software company JDA andPwC also found that for 64 per cent of UK retail chief executives the top priority to enable growth is improving omni-channel and fulfilment capabilities.

Digital performance firm Dynatrace works with 17 of the top 20 global retailers, helping them to improve the performance of their web and mobile storefronts. Their research shows that nearly a third of UK consumers shop through a combination of online, mobile and in-store channels. More than half (56 per cent) use their smartphone to compare prices online or download discount vouchers while shopping in-store.

This means, says Michael Allen, Dynatrace’s solutions vice president, retailers must ensure their customers receive a consistent experience regardless of which channel they shop through. “Every customer journey is unique in today’s digital business economy,” he says. “The rise of online and mobile commerce has fundamentally changed the way we shop, but it’s not as clear-cut for retailers as just identifying whether their customers shop online or instore.”

Mr Allen says the multitude of touchpoints in the modern consumer journey puts pressure on retailers to ensure their customers enjoy a consistent experience across every channel. “Whether they’re visiting the website from home to research a product, using the mobile app to ‘click and collect’ the item on their way into work or walking into their local high street branch to pick something up in person, the journey has to run smoothly, or retailers risk causing disillusionment that pushes their customers
away,” he says.

Of course, as they become progressively digitalised, retail operations are at increased risk of technical failure. “Many critical processes and online storefronts are interdependent or rely on third-party services such as web hosting or cloud-computing providers,” Mr Allen points out.

“Unfortunately, when one of those third parties has a problem, it can prevent staff from putting through a sale at the checkout or pull down an entire website, rendering them slow or even completely unusable. “This creates a major challenge for retailers in creating a consistent customer experience across all channels, as their performance can easily be impacted by factors outside of their direct control.”

He says that retailers need complete, real-time visibility into the entire application and service-delivery chain for every customer interaction and every business process on the back-end to see where and why issues might be occurring.

It’s also worth noting that an over-reliance on a particular third-party service is a recipe for disaster for any retailer, says Mr Allen. “If a website-hosting provider goes down, there should be a failsafe built in that switches the service over to an alternative provider instantly, so customers don’t suddenly find themselves unable to access the site or proceed to the checkout halfway through a shop,” he says.

It still happens more than it should. A common error, says Mr Allen, is when a web page has a single point of failure, where one faulty component can delay the entire page from loading. “From the customer’s perspective, they’re stuck in a situation where their browser is just left hanging for 20 seconds or more before anything appears, during which time most will have given up and clicked off,” he says.

Another error is building too many marketing analytics tools into a single page. Many of them do the same thing and merely create another component adding to the page-load time. Having too many images that load separately on a single page can also have a negative impact on the customer experience; everything will load much faster for the user if images are grouped into a single file using sprites, but this is often neglected during web-page design, adds Mr Allen.

There are a number of technologies transforming the omni-channel landscape. PowaTag, used by the likes of Universal Music and Carrefour, aims to turn every point of contact into a sale, converting impulse into purchase and eliminating the wait that causes incomplete transactions. The technology turns offline environments and printed materials into online shopping environments, and printed materials and posters into accountable sales vehicles. PowaTag audio even embeds audio water-marks into any live or recorded broadcasts, letting consumers purchase spontaneously and immediately.

Dan Wagner, chief executive of Powa Technologies, says: “Real value is what defines consumer patterns. Consumers are looking to make informed purchases that can be completed via their smartphones easily and securely. Being constantly bombarded by individual mobile commerce and payments applications has only complicated further an already saturated market.

Users experience the same frustrations looking at their smartphones being overcrowded with apps of limited scope and reach as looking at their wallets or pockets being full of credit and loyalty cards that can only be used in certain stores. “Users do not want one more app – they need the right tool that provides real solutions
to their needs.”

But chief executive of retail software company Retail Pro International Kerry Lemos warns against simply jumping on the latest bandwagon. “The high expectation for omni-channel already exists in the consumer world,” he says. “Whether retailers should choose to go through the operational upheaval to conform to that expectation is still to be determined.”

In fact, the most important question they must ask is whether omni-channel is worth it for their business. As Mr Lemos says: “Consumers want omni-channel because it is convenient for them. There is a lot of customer-centric hype and it fails to consider business operations realities and the sizeable investment a retailer will have to make to implement an omni-channel strategy.”

In order for the omni-channel experience truly to work, the whole company has to be engaged in the idea. “The retailer must set their own definition and standard for omni-channel – not the customer, not the media, not other businesses. It is important not to get carried away with the hype, but instead determine what is best for their business,”
he says.

“Every retailer’s business model, goals and offerings are different, and that will be reflected in how they structure their omni-channel efforts. The entire company, from the chief executive to the weekends-only shop assistant, must be implementing the omni-channel vision in every decision and interaction.”

So, what does the future of omni-channel look like? Rob Shaw is global vice president, general business and systems, applications and products customer engagement and commerce at hybris, which provides omni-channel solutions to companies such as P&O Ferries and Monsoon. He says we’ll start to see more “listening in” in real time to the signals a specific consumer generates while browsing across different channels, then acting in a timely fashion, rather than basing next steps on customer history.

“Let’s say a customer is browsing a retailer website a month or so after buying a new pair of shoes,” he says. “Typically this might result in the brand’s marketing technology generating adverts for shoes that then follow the customer around the web. By applying context, the retailer would realise faster that the customer is probably more interested in shoe accessories than another pair of shoes, leading to more appropriate recommendations or advertisements for products such as laces, shoe polish or protective sprays.”

Implementing omni-channel retail strategies is the only way that this context can be derived as, in the age of the channel-hopping consumer, it provides all the data required to build the all-important single view of the customer. Historically, too many retailers have been guilty of employing a siloed approach when it comes to the organisation of their business, a situation that makes accurately tracking customer activity all but impossible.

But this is changing, says Mr Shaw: “Many brands are implementing more holistic approaches to their operations and more effective, contextually-aware customer engagement will be the key benefit.”

See the original and the related infographic here.

This entry was posted by Monica Quinn on Tuesday, July 7th, 2015 at 5:53 pm .

Malware attacks continue to disable point of sale systems at an alarming rate. Every other week there is news of yet another credit card data breach. And while companies are increasing their investments on anti-virus programs to combat it, that may be money ill-spent.

The malicious malware that hackers used to attack Target has been tied to a number of recent breaches in retail stores, including Neiman Marcus and Michaels Company, Inc.

The 2015 Mid-year Point-of-Sale (POS) Security Health Assessment, sponsored by Bit9 + Carbon Black, suggests most malware is significantly craftier than AV solutions. Criminals use PoS malware to exploit a gap in the security of how card data is handled. Card data is encrypted as it’s sent for payment authorization, but it’s not encrypted while the payment is being processed. So it is vulnerable at the moment when the card is swiped at the PoS for payment. And, while anti-virus software is largely ineffective at conquering today’s malicious malware, businesses continue to use security budget dollars in outdated and inappropriate solutions.

The Bit9 + Carbon Black study found that a majority of businesses take security more seriously than ever; of the 150 companies surveyed, 63 percent have increased security budgets during the last two years, many of them as a direct result of publicized breaches. That indicates that retailers are paying attention to the security news out there and recognize investments need to be made.

However, the report notes that while 94 percent of organizations run antivirus on all their PoS devices, a quarter of those companies reported that antivirus software does not provide proper protection. And with a mere 38 percent reporting they have found malware within their PoS systems, it’s likely that many threats are just getting identified. Chris Strand PCIP, senior director of compliance and governance for Bit9 + Carbon Black said in a statement:

It’s shocking that even when they have more budget to spend in the fight against malware so many organizations continue to spend it on antivirus, which cannot see or stop today’s advanced threats and targeted attacks. It’s no secret that we’re seeing an increase in the number and type of attacks against organizations that use point-of-sale devices. The good news is that more organizations are aware of this and are increasing their budgets. But the fact that only 38 percent of organizations have detected malware on their POS systems during the past two years is a major red flag and points to the ineffectiveness of AV.

The fact is that antivirus solutions did not detect the malware responsible for the Target breach; even signature based AV could not have prevented the PoS trojan. Boosting spending on AV is a flawed strategy when trying to fight malware. The Mid-year PoS Assessment found that 62% of respondents said their AV had not detected any malware in two years, although at least 20 different types of malware has been documented during that time.

The best defense is a strong offense. Retailers must lock down computer systems, comply with PCI, monitor network traffic and keep computer systems updated. In addition, merchants should consider advanced threat protection to defeat malware that is evolving more quickly than signatures can be created.

This entry was posted by Jennifer Bosavage on Thursday, June 25th, 2015 at 5:59 pm .

Returns, overstocks and out-of-stocks cost retailers mightily.

Research released recently from IHL Group found that merchants lost $1.75 trillion annually due to those three situations.

Retailers still questioning the importance of data analysis and of full insight into sales channels — e-commerce, brick and mortar and mobile — take note.

The study, entitled, “Retailers and the Ghost Economy: $1.75 Trillion Reasons to Be Afraid,” outlines just how much these common faced problems cost merchants:

• Preventable Returns: $642.6 Billion each year
• Out-of-stocks: $634.1 Billion each year
• Overstocks: $471.9 Billion each year

The top three troubles?

Number one, internal process failures (representing $284.9B in losses); number two, personnel issues ($259.1B), and number three, data disconnects or systems that are not integrated ($222.7B).

In total, those trouble spots amount to 11.7% of annual retail revenue on average.

So, a $25 billion retailer that streamlines processes, becomes more efficient and uses analytics to make informed purchasing decisions, can expect an additional $2.9 billion added to the bottom line.

According to Greg Buzek, president of IHL Group:

Retailers all too often focus on a variety of ways to drive revenue and increase comparable year-over-year sales, but retailers can realize huge gains by addressing opportunities that are in hand and slipping through enterprise fingers.

Merchants must dedicate time and effort into selecting the proper inventory management systems to fit their needs.

Planning is essential to ensure all parts of the supply chain are supported and that capital isn’t wasted in procuring unwanted inventory or systems.

Omnichannel insights offer retailers tremendous growth potential, but if inventory is not tracked properly, data analysis is skewed.

For example, POS software can highlight the top 20 sellers for a business, allowing purchasers to buy more of the products that are most profitable.

Conversely, POS software can inform a merchant which products are not moving, so they can be cleared out and room made for more popular merchandise.

It can be a long process, and in retail especially, time is money.

But the investment will pay off — to the tune of some 11.7%.

This entry was posted by Jennifer Bosavage on Wednesday, June 24th, 2015 at 4:20 am .

With the deadline for the move to EMV adoption by retailers coming fast — October — many retailers have already made the move and now consumers are faced with becoming familiar with the security technology when providing payment at the point of sale (PoS). But while that’s true for many, it’s not for all.

Visa hopes to accelerate EMV adoption.

Although EMV, or chip-and-pin, cards are widespread in Europe, only some 59% of U.S. point-of-sale (POS) terminals will be EMV-enabled by the end of this year, according to research by Aite Group. That means that when the liability shift occurs this Fall, almost half of all merchants will be vulnerable to counterfeit card fraud and the liability will be on them. With the data breaches that occurred in the not-so-distant past — Neiman Marcus, Sally Beauty, Michaels’ just to name a few — it’s a risk that few retailers should willingly want to take.

Approximately half of all credit card fraud occurs in the United States, although the country only makes up one quarter of all credit card transactions, according to a report Barclays put out earlier this month. Of course, as the October deadline approaches, there has been — and will likely continue to e — an uptick in EMV adoption. In the recent report, U.S. Market analysis of POS Terminals and EMV & NFC Status Review, Research and Markets found that the installed base of EMV terminals in the U.S. is expected reach around 65% by the end of 2020. That leaves 35% of merchants willing to roll the dice and potentially bear liability if customer data is breached.

The Research and Markets report also uncovered another interesting fact: EMV POS terminal adoption differs widely by retail market segment:

The specialty, mass merchants & grocery category and pharmacy/drug store category are leaders in the adoption of EMV POS with a penetration rate of more than 60% by the end of 2014.On the other hand, gasoline station merchants who enjoy a buffer time of two additional years for the liability shift have the lowest adoption rate of EMV. The adoption rate is still a single digit number. Regarding EMV adoption, we got a mixed response from hotels and restaurants. Many QSRs are reluctant to shift to EMV.

Ultimately, consumers will be the catalyst for the hold-out merchants to change. As consumers become educated as to the benefits of EMV enabled cards, retailers will feel greater pressure to adopt the technology. By protecting customer data, retailers can also differentiate themselves — at this point — from the competition that is not yet EMV compliant.

This entry was posted by Jennifer Bosavage on Monday, June 22nd, 2015 at 11:55 am .

How can you improve your team’s performance on the retail floor when you’ve got zero time and a tight budget? The chaotic life of retail often leaves you with little time to focus on proactive improvement and skill building for your sales associates. But continuous employee development is critical for the retailer who intends to build an effective sales team. Here are two quick ways to train your employees in the art of retail – when you’re on a budget.

Leverage Strong Employees for

On-the-Job Shadowing

In most companies, job shadowing is a technique that allows a new employee to learn their role. The employee follows an experienced employee and learns the tasks and responsibilities required to perform their job. This can be an effective way to conduct on-the-job training. But job shadowing doesn’t have to be limited to training new employees. You can use short-term job shadowing to expose employees to different functions during various shifts within the company.

Better performing sales employees can help less adept employees improve their skills by observing their interactions with a customer and providing constructive feedback. Exercises like these will help them understand the value proposition of your brand and understand what is important to your customers.

And the shadow experience doesn’t have to take a long time. Even a few hours of observation and practice can lead to a better understanding and better skill in engaging customers. When employees develop working relationships with employees in other shifts, they begin to communicate, connect different resources together, and create new approaches to problem solving.

Replicate External Training Opportunities

Sometimes, all it takes to help your employees be more effective on the sales floor is to help them develop a better understanding of the software you use to run your retail store. External training opportunities like the two-week Retail Pro training are good ways to help employees use the robust functionality more effectively. However, very often only a handful of employees will ultimately get the benefit of attending an official training.

So ask the few who attend the training to present what they’ve learned to the rest of your employees. Knowing that they will later present the information to their retail peers will motivate your employee delegate to listen actively and work hard to process and retain the course material. If more than one person attends the training, you can ask the entire group to work together and prepare a presentation. For trainings longer than a day or two, you may ask the employees to only prepare a high-level overview of session materials.

By holding several peer-training mini-seminars during various shifts, your entire company can benefit from the material that was presented, and training attendees will reinforce their own newly-gained knowledge by virtue of repetition and cognitively processing it for presentations.

Supporting initiatives like these to allow employees to develop both personally and professionally is critical, and Retail Pro University is happy to partner with you in doing so. Contact us at training@retailpro.com to learn about training options for your employees.

This entry was posted by ketv on Wednesday, June 10th, 2015 at 3:04 pm .

The retail ideal of putting customers’ desires first often comes into conflict with the plain truth about inventory: While most customers enjoy making selections from a fully stocked store, retailers just can’t afford to carry stock that appeals to everyone who walks through the door. Even specialty stores, which have more limited inventory by their very natures, need to be selective so they don’t give shelf space to slow movers at the expense of products that are hot tickets.

Moving to a larger space is one potential solution, but opening a warehouse-sized store has considerable real estate costs attached. The ability to offer vast selection economically is one area in which e-commerce has a distinct advantage. But does that have to be? Here’s how one footwear maker thought to look outside the (shoe) box.

Athletic shoes are the mainstay of Adidas’ $16.3 billion business. A couple of years ago, the German-based company realized that while it was impossible for any of its retailers to carry a full selection of Adidas shoes, it was losing sales simply because shoppers were unaware of all the offerings available. Of course, customers could purchase online, but many didn’t because of their desire to try on shoes before purchase.

Adidas came upon a hybrid approach that would let customers enjoy a personalized sales approach, while boosting sales of athletic shoes. The company implemented an Intel technology-based interactive video wall to launch a line of specialty Olympic sports shoes, most of which were not physically carried in stores, due to inventory risk. The wall was installed in various locations, and has been responsible for increases in footwear sales of more than 40 percent in every instance so far, according to Adidas. Read that again: Every instance. Such an impact on sales is not trivial.

The reason for the success is straight-forward. The technology let customers see images of the shoes from different angles, learn their features, select sizes and colors, check inventory, and purchase the shoes. And that’s all done at the digital display.

It might seem easy to reduce the interaction between customer and shopper using this technology, but that’s not necessarily the case — it simply depends on the intent. If a retailer is aiming for a self-service model, an Adidas-like solution will fit the bill. But it can also add to the customer-associate relationship, as Adidas found. The system added a point of interaction for the associate to help involve the customer by explaining how the wall works and pointing out the innovative features, such as 3D rendering and social interaction. In addition, it provided an “endless aisle” of product for customers, who could search a complete inventory of thousands of shoes using the video wall, while the retailer could carry far fewer shoes in-store.

Understanding what the customer wants (large selection) and answering that desire (endless aisle solutions) offers a positive shopping experience that will inspire many to become loyal shoppers. While this type of solution is not be specifically tailored for an individual, it provides customization based on an individual’s preference, over and over. In that way, many customers can enjoy personalized experiences, without providing much personal data. A win for the customer, as well as the retailer.

This entry was posted by Jennifer Bosavage on Thursday, June 4th, 2015 at 10:50 am .

In retail business, as in life, there can be no such thing as stagnancy; you are either moving forward or you’re falling behind. Every tactic that is not in line with the corporate strategy is effectively undermining it. Every expense – whether inventory, technology, rent, sales staff, or any other expense – that is not driven by concrete data justifying its necessity is a waste and the opportunity cost of proper resource allocation is unsalvageable.

Misinvestment into inventory that proves to be slow-moving means sub-par sales, decreased profit margins, and loss of customer interest, which snowballs into lost market share, less resources for the next season, poorer company performance, and impaired investor relations. The effects can be crippling and compound over time.

In retail business, as in life, you only have one shot at getting it right.

It’s no wonder business intelligence is so critical a factor in every industry. A growing number of retailers are seeing the need for a more strategic use of the raw data they collect from every transaction. The challenge then becomes knowing which data to single out from the torrent of data they have available to them: which metrics should a retail company track when leveraging their retail management software’s reporting functions?

When the stakes are so high, you cannot afford to make mistakes. Yet so many companies continue to sacrifice their performance by foregoing the use of BI. According to a SunGard survey of executives in two industries, only 13% of respondents utilize advanced BI techniques such as predictive analytics and alerts. The remaining 87% of businesses are steadily chiseling away at their profit margin with uninformed decisions, or decisions made from siloed departmental data, which is a fragmented, incomplete representation of the company’s health. “The ambition for retail growth, when severed from a holistic recognition of performance drivers and shortcomings, is powerless to effect productive change,” said Kerry Lemos, CEO of Retail Pro International, a global retail management software provider

For the global apparel retail company, American Apparel, business intelligence has been paramount to success. American Apparel integrated retail tools that give comprehensive visibility into all stock across locations, which has resulted in an overall reduction in inventory. Along with better turn, the strategic use of business intelligence also streamlined their related operations, which drives improvement in resource allocation.

But leveraging data for smarter operations is not a feat reserved solely for the global retailer. In fact, small and medium-sized retailers are often in a better position to see into their data and derive actionable strategies for improvement. Crafty Yankee, a US specialty retail gift shop with two locations, saw the value of business intelligence early on. Owner Kathy Fields has been using the reporting tools in her retail management software to inform every aspect of her retail decisions. “I like to analyze my business in different segments. Let’s say we had a 20% increase last month. Where did that come from? Jewelry? Glass? Pottery? Once I see the trend in the data, I can break it down by vendor or resources, and I can compare that data to last year’s.”

The changing retail landscape and evolving customer expectations necessitated her use of BI. “I constantly reshape the store,” said Fields. “We must change with the customer: Patterns, age, tastes.”

Retail Pro University, the training arm of Retail Pro International, has developed a new training series to help retailers capitalize on the data they collect. The new course, titled Understanding Retail Metrics, is a partnership with Dan Jablons from Retail Smart Guys, a consulting company for independent retail. Each video lecture features a particular key performance indicator, from turn to sell through percentage to gross margin return on investment, and, most critically, gives insight on how to use the statistic to be more profitable. Retailers are taking advantage of resources like these as an integral springboard for smarter retailing.

In the same way that uninformed decision-making carries compounding inefficiencies, intelligent use of data in strategic, tactical, and operational retail decisions can create compounding productivity benefits that translate into profits.

BI, says journalist Kim Nash, is all about understanding what makes your company thrive. Knowing what makes your company thrive improves decision-making. Improved decision-making – little by little, day after day, season after season – builds the foundation for sustainable retail growth and long-term retail success.

This entry was posted by Monica Quinn on Monday, June 1st, 2015 at 4:52 pm .

The most successful retailers today don’t distinguish among their shopping channels — rather, they design the digital experience with store fulfillment in mind. The challenge, however, is in determining how profitable such customers are, according to a recent study released by Retail Systems Research, entitled,  “Achieving Profitability In An Omni-Channel Fulfillment Model.”

As far back as 2007, retailers began identifying the importance of the

As merchants expand their online retail marketing initiatives and strive for an integrated, multichannel approach, they need the right technology to support their operations.

Today, it’s an absolute necessity for a brick-and-mortar to have an e-commerce channel, but the wrinkle is, it must be seamlessly integrated into the shopping experience. Increasingly, customers begin their purchase in one channel, and finish it in another. Back in 2007, shoppers who started in-store and bought online were called “showroomers.” But in the past eight years, because of a concerted effort by brick and mortars to stay alive and relevant, that trend is reversing itself. Nowadays, a buyer is just as likely to start the shopping journey online and complete it in store, as it is vice versa. So, while retailers met the challenge of showrooming, RSR reports that many are wondering at what cost. While 35 percent of those surveyed said multichannel customers are significantly more profitable than single channel customers, 24 percent reported they could not judge profitability. A number of factors RSR identified as crucial to achieve profitable fulfillment are addressed by solutions such as those provided by Retail Pro:

1. Can your company track inventory across the enterprise? If so, is your company able to put the right amount of inventory closest to the points of demand, at the right time? That’s important because bringing customers to the store — where the potential for add-on merchandise is high — is preferable to the “one-and-done” reality of many online orders.
2. Are non-store customer orders fulfilled in a way that maximizes profitability? Assuming the answer above is “Yes, I can see all my inventory,” then the retailer must determine what the most profitable fulfillment method will be. That can vary by individual case: Providing the lowest shipping cost to customer may be satisfactory in one situation, while another may be choosing a fulfillment point closest to the customer’s location.
3. Who will fulfill the orders and returns? Retailers are loathe to adding head count, but RSR notes that in an ominichannel environment, return rates go up. Customer service becomes even more of a differentiator when shoppers have problems. Reallocating resources to service reps from other areas is a potential answer. Retailers should consider optimizing non-selling store processes, such as stock management, in order to cover the new costs associated with handling non-store orders.

Creating an omnichannel and multichannel experience that consumers see simply as  “shopping” requires the behind-the-scenes technology that will provide seamless fulfillment. Retailers that treat all channel as complementary, and integrate them into a holistic brand experience will be the first to maximize customer profitability.

This entry was posted by Jennifer Bosavage on Tuesday, May 26th, 2015 at 10:22 am .

In the previous RPU newsletter, we looked at a number of ways to create a culture of continuous employee development. Employee training and education doesn’t have to happen in a traditional classroom for it to be valuable to your employees and to the company. In fact, some skills are better taught on the job or in an environment where employees don’t feel the pressure and anxiety they often associate with formal education.

Another effective way to encourage employees to move their education beyond the walls of your training room is to have them give a talk on an industry topic at conferences or workshops. This is especially effective for training sales associates in specialty retail. The Digital Age consumer comes to your store fully prepared. They’ve already researched your product features, compared them with your biggest competitors, and read all the customer reviews. When they approach your sales associate, they are expecting insider knowledge that they can’t get from the internet.

Is your sales team prepared to give them what they’re looking for? The transient nature of retail creates a daunting chasm between customer expectations of your team’s product expertise and the reality. So how can you build a workforce of solid brand advocates with industry and product expertise? Implement the practice of employee-led industry training talks.

Nothing motivates an employee to master a topic than having to give a presentation to a group of people. Presenting on topics related to the work they already do gives employees a measure of confidence and at the same time fosters a deep understanding of current industry issues surrounding your retail strategy. In requiring presentations like this, you are developing a team of industry experts who can train their fellow employees to be effective brand advocates on the sales floor and at your company’s promotional events. In preparing for the presentation, your employees also develop strategies like outlining, organizing, teaching, and public speaking – soft skills that are critical for success on the job but which are only learned through experience.

Glassophobia Strikes 

In 1973, a market research firm called R.H. Bruskin Associates conducted a survey of over 2,500 adults in the United States, and found that the greatest fear for 40% of respondents was the fear of public speaking. Gallup conducted similar surveys in 1998 and 2001 with identical results – 40% of people feel anxiety over speaking in front of a group. Time and market researchers have tested and found again and again that this fear, called glassophobia, is most common in humanity, outpacing even the fear of death. It follows that more people would rather die than speak in front of an audience.

In many cases, all it takes to get over the fear of public speaking is a successful experience. Once you experience it, you realize that it wasn’t as bad you thought it would be, and we don’t have to go far to find a relevant example. I recently submitted a research project to the Association for Educational Communications and Technology, a professional association in my educational field. My paper on lecture capture policies was accepted and I was asked to present my findings at their 35^th annual conference in Anaheim, CA. In addition to formal presentations and keynote addresses, the conference provides many opportunities for emerging scholars to present and receive constructive feedback on research in various degrees of completeness.

Although I had confidence in my knowledge of the topic, I had never given a presentation of this magnitude before. As the conference approached, I began to feel anxious and seriously considered backing out. I felt extremely vulnerable as I thought about the audience and their criticism. I imagined them picking apart and denouncing my work in public forum.

Finally, the big day came and I shuffled nervously toward the podium at the front of the. At first, I was a little shaky but as I began explaining the research, my interest in this subject took over and I soon forgot all about the potential critics in the audience. Before I knew it, my time was done. Afterward, a few people in the audience approached me and offered positive feedback. I was relieved. I realized that I had let my imagination take over and paint the worst possible scenario.

Lead Customers to a Sale with a Persuasive Brand Story 

In retail, your sales team may never have to present your product and brand philosophy to more than even five people at a time. But how many times have your employees lost a sale because they didn’t know how to answer your customer’s question, or unwittingly did so in a way that caused the shopper’s confidence to drop? How many of those instances could have been prevented, had your sales associate known how to look up the information through your Retail Pro retail management software?

Every instance of engagement between your sales associate and your customer is a mini-presentation on your brand story. Cultivating public speaking skills in your employees can go a long way in making them more persuasive as they lead your customers to a sale, and employers can take the following practical steps to help employees gain these skills.

3 Practical Ways to Build Employee Presentation Skills

Scaffold Shaky Speakers with a Presentation Partner

Not all of your employees will eagerly accept a request to give a product training presentation to the rest of your team. Some might require a little more hand-holding and preparation. That’s OK. The goal should not be to give a perfect, polished presentation, but rather to learn to skills associated with public speaking. You might consider pairing an anxious employee with a more seasoned associate in your company. Having someone else up there with them gives the inexperienced employee a feeling of safety in case something goes wrong.

Give Constructive Feedback to Help Employees Recognize Presenting Strengths and Weaknesses

Don’t forget to provide feedback after the presentation. We learn best through constructive criticism and positive reinforcement. Feedback doesn’t always have to be formal. Simply give an analysis of the presentation and some tips for how to improve the next time. Set a reasonable, attainable goal for your employee. For example, you can send them to a Retail Pro University product training course and ask them to prepare a training presentation on how to use the key features for your other employees, this time without a partner.

Take Public Speaking to the Next Level at Industry Events

While it may seem less intimidating to give a presentation for the employees in your department or company, a formal presentation at an industry conference like the Retail Pro Customer Summits provides an opportunity for a different caliber of presentation. Employees take it more seriously and take their skills to a new level. Remember: the company gains tremendous benefit from the added publicity and visibility that comes with having an industry expert on staff.

Through each of these ways you can develop a retail staff that knows the trending issues and can speak with authority and expertise on your brand. Don’t ever lose a customer to poor presentation skills again.

Interested in Retail Pro product training? Contact us at training@retailpro.com to learn more about our variety of standard and custom training solutions for your staff.

This entry was posted by ketv on Thursday, May 21st, 2015 at 4:22 pm .

Increasingly, brick and mortar shoppers are using a “strategic strike” method of shopping: They’ve narrowed down what they came for, they pick it up and they leave. Consumers use digital technology first, as part of the selection process, then visit a store for an in-person look and feel, and then, they often make ancillary

Focus on omnichannel retail strategy bolsters customer loyalty

purchases that are unplanned, as well. A shopper, therefore, who uses commerce or mobile sites to facilitate the shopping experience is actually more apt to be a higher value — and potentially more loyal — customer than one who does not.

A recent study from Deloitte, “Navigating the New Digital Divide,” found that digital interactions are expected to influence 64 cents of every dollar spent in retail stores by the end of 2015, or $2.2 trillion. What used to be the dreaded practice of “showrooming” may actually be driving shoppers into stores. That theory seems to be backed up by Deloitte’s finding that consumers who use digital while they shop in-store convert at a 20 percent higher rate compared with those who do not report digital influence as part of the shopping process.

Deloitte reports that consumers are “hunting,” rather than “gathering.” That’s due to the ability of shoppers to narrow down selections before heading into the store. With time at a premium for so many people, doing a “pre-shopping” online helps optimize in-store time. When the “hunter” has a specific target to pick up at the store, there is more time to spend finding related accessories.

For example, narrowing down a selection of coffee pots to one or two on a retailer’s site before heading to the store provides the shopper the opportunity to simply collect the merchandise (the “strategic strike”), or to browse related items, such as mugs, beans, filters and so on. The consumer has the choice of a quick, easy, time saving experience, or of a streamlined one that offers a targeted pick up with an incidental additional purchase.

Nearly one in three shoppers Deloitte surveyed said they buy more when they use digital as part of their shopping process. Tying selling channels together — converging them — helps customers use digital technology for their initial shopping decisions early in the process, and then makes it easy for them to extend that sale.

This entry was posted by Jennifer Bosavage on Wednesday, May 20th, 2015 at 8:06 am .